Emergencies can vary when in orthodontic treatment, but they are usually never of too much concern.
Depending on what treatment you are undergoing, most emergencies can be dealt with at home or with a quick visit to your orthodontist and most likely don’t need to be seen to straight away.
Here are some helpful tips and advice when it comes to possible orthodontic emergencies and how you might be able to handle these when you are unable to see your Geelong orthodontist.
- Be mindful of what you are eating when you have a fixed appliance in, such as an expander. Avoiding hard foods will mean that you are less likely to break anything or for anything to become lose.
- If you feel that our appliance is lose, notify your orthodontists, and arrange a review appointment. Even if the appliance is loose it is very unlikely that it will just fall out, the cement used is very strong!
- If you feel that the appliance is rubbing the inside of your mouth and causing ulcers, use the orthodontic wax provided at your insert appointment to protect the inside of the cheeks. It is best to try and dry the appliance as best you can and then take a pea sized amount of wax, rolled into a ball, and then stick it to the appliance where you are having issues. Wax can be picked up from reception whenever you need more and can sometimes be found at the chemist.
- If you find that ulcers are present, use warm saltwater rinses 2-3 times a day to help with the healing.
- If you are having trouble turning an expander, give our reception staff a call and arrange a review appointment where we can show the turning process again and check.
- If you lose an attachment off the teeth, don’t worry. Continue wearing your Aligners as normal and give our reception staff a call to notify them. We can then evaluate if it is necessary to replace the lost attachment.
- If you break or lose the Aligner you are currently in, move onto the next one. If you have moved forward to the next Aligner 3 days early, you will need to then wear the new Aligner for an additional 3 days just to make sure they are fitting correctly.
- If you are using Dental Monitoring with your Aligner treatment, it is important to keep up with your scans. We will be able to review any lost attachments etc and keep you updated through the app if there is anything of concern.
- You need to be mindful of what you eat when you have braces. Avoiding hard, chewy, and sticky foods will mean that you will have less breakages, meaning less appointments and less time in treatment.
- If you feel that your wire is feeling long and digging in, you can try and use nail clippers/scissors to trim them. Orthodontic wax can also be used in this case which would have been given to you at your initial appointment. Wax can also be picked up from reception at any time or purchased at the chemist.
- If a wire comes out of a bracket, you can try and use the back of a pencil to push it back into place. If unsuccessful let us know and we will arrange an appointment when possible.
- If you have a loose bracket, we will need to rebond this in the practice. Reach out to our reception staff and we will arrange an appointment in the coming week. A lose bracket won’t do any harm, it just puts your treatment on pause, so if the appointment is made anywhere between 1-2 weeks don’t stress.
- If you have elastic chain running across your braces and this becomes loose, trim the loose bit with nail clippers/scissors. Alternatively, you can pull this off also. This will need to be replaced in the practice, so reach out to our reception staff to make an appointment.
- If you break or lose your retainer we will need to see you in the clinic to take a new impression or scan to get a remake made. Give our reception staff a call and we will arrange an appointment for you. Remember that a broken or lost retainer will come with an additional fee so it is important to do your best at keeping them safe.
If you have any questions or concerns our reception staff can be reach on 5244 4466 or via email, [email protected]
